One Death Per Family
by Tomboy 601
Summary: Naruto gets separated from his teammates in the middle of a mission during a thunderstorm. He takes refuge in an old, boarded up house until the rain stops. But, something doesn't want him to leave, for it's one death per family... Rating may change
1. Skeletons In The Closet

Author's Note: I'm not dead! Yup, I'm back with a brand new story! Enjoy the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"To your right, Naruto! Sakura shouted as Naruto maneuvered towards the left.

"Really, do you want to be left behind?"

"No Sakura-chan, I just-"

"Move to your right!"

Too late, Naruto moved left and was blocked from view by an ocean of trees.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto came to a stop at the edge of the forest.

"Sakura-chan? Kakashi-Sensei?"

Naruto was interrupted by a loud crack of thunder, followed by a torrent of rain.

"Guess I'd better find some shelter." Naruto thought out loud.

He started searching for shelter, natural or not.

Then he saw it.

An old, boarded up house screaming 'shelter'.

"What's a house doing way out here?" Naruto wondered as he made his way towards it.

"Oh well, shelter is shelter."

As he entered the house, a low moan could be heard from the basement.

If Naruto had heard it, it may have sounded like "one death per family".

Naruto had explored a little bit of the house and found a nice couch to crash on. It puzzled him as to why anyone would abandon a house without moving out.

The lights flickered, but Naruto assumed that was because they hadn't been used in a long time.

He got up and turned the lights off, then walked back to the couch and sat down.

Where were they? Sakura and Kakashi couldn't be that far away. Naruto threw a nearby blanket on the floor, coughing as he inhaled the dust.

He saw a light turn on in a nearby room.

He got up to investigate.

"Hello?"

Nobody answered. He opened the door to the room.

"Hello?"

Suddenly, he was thrown against the wall, squirming as he locked eyes with his attacker.

_A family stood in front of the house. The man was paying a realtor __and laughing at his good fortune. The woman was watching two children, a boy and a girl, as they played together._

_The boy was taunting his sister when he fell down the stairs. As he got up, he was pelted by something off-white. The child screamed as he realized what it was. Desperately making his way upstairs, he didn't notice as the bones chased him up._

_The boy didn't stop running until he reached the safety of his mother._

Naruto's breath was caught in his throat as he continued to struggle against the creature attacking him, killing him…

Then he woke up.

Naruto was back on the old couch in a sitting position. The lights were on which was strange as he didn't remember turning them on.

Naruto, still shaken from the dream, got up and flicked the switch. Nothing happened.

"Come on, work!"

But no matter how hard he tried, Naruto couldn't get the lights to turn off.

"Sakura-Chan, Kakashi-Sensei, where are you?"

_"We have to sell the house." Emiko whispered to her husband._

_ "We can't do that. It won't let us." Jakerou whispered back._

_ "It already took our beloved Makoto from us. If it takes Suzuki too..." Emiko's voice trailed off._

_ "It's policy is only one. We won't lose Suzuki." Jakerou responded._

_ "Daddy... Daddy..." A voice came from nowhere, calling Jakerou._

_ "Makoto! Please come back! Please!" Emiko shouted._

Naruto's stomach growled. He wondered if there was anything edible left in the house.

As he wandered into the hallway, he couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu. The kitchen light was on.

He walked into the kitchen and opened a cupboard. There was nothing in it.

As he closed the cupboard door, Naruto noticed some strange markings on the cupboard door. Almost like scratch marks.

He shuddered and left the kitchen.

Wait, why was he in the kitchen in the first place? He wasn't hungry. At least, he didn't feel hungry.

He walked back into the living room, flicking the lights on as he did.

Wait, hadn't the lights already been on? Hadn't he been unable to turn them off earlier? It felt like such a long time ago. Maybe he had turned them off and just forgot about it.

Naruto sat back down on the couch.

Then he noticed a door on the other side of the room. Had that been there before?

Either way, he felt a strange pull towards it. Almost like it was calling to him. He got up and started walking towards it.

_Emiko scanned the room frantically for any sign of her son._

_ "Daddy... Daddy..." Makoto said._

_ Then Emiko saw him. In the closet doorway. She ran to him, overjoyed it had let her see him again._

_ "Emiko, no!" Jakerou called desperately to his wife._

Naruto pulled open the closet door. Clothes were on the floor. Naruto started to dig through the clothes until he hit something solid.

Throwing the clothes out of the way, he stepped back to revel in what he had found.

A woman's skeleton lay in the closet. Her clothes had been shredded and it was clear that she had been attacked by some sort of monster.

Naruto suddenly felt excited. He remembered her scream and beg for mercy as his claws tore her flesh. How easily she had been lured into the closet.

The man had yelled for her to come back, but she hadn't listened. The man wanted to get rid of him.

_Emiko embraced her son, sobbing. Then she felt claws dig into her back._

_ "Hello, Mommy." Makoto whispered, his decaying face twisted into an evil smile._

_ "Do you love me, Mommy?"_

_ Emiko was frozen in pure fear._

_ "Please don't hurt me. I'm begging you, Makoto! Don't you remember me?"_

_ "I love you, Mommy." Makoto said as his claws ripped her apart._

_ Emiko screamed as she was killed by the thing that had once been her son._

Naruto pulled the skeleton out of the closet and marveled at his work. She had been so easy to kill. So easy to-

Naruto suddenly jolted back to reality. He was holding something. He took one look at it and dropped the skeleton. Where had he gotten that? He glanced around. There wasn't anything but the living room here. Shouldn't he still be in the kitchen, looking for anything that could potentially be edible?

Naruto shrugged and walked back into the kitchen. He'd worry about the skeleton later.

_"Naruto..."_

Naruto jerked his head up, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

_"Naruto..."_

There is was again! The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere.

_"Naruto..."_

SLAM!

A door slammed shut.

SLAM!

Another door closed.

_"Naruto..."_

SLAM!

Naruto jumped. That door sounded close.

_"Join us, Naruto..."_

Suddenly, the figures of a man and a little girl appeared.

"Where-Where did you come from? Who are you?" Naruto brandished a kunai, but his hands shook too much for it to of any use.

"Don't you know? I'm Suzuki. My dad and I have wanted to meet you." The little girl answered.

"Leave the talking to me, Suzuki." The man said. "I'll tell Naruto all about this."

The man turned to look at Naruto.

"My name is Jakerou. I live in this house with my wife, Emiko and our children, Suzuki and Makoto. You'll like it here. After all, you're staying forever."

"Staying forever...? No! I'm just waiting for the rest of my team. I'll leave when they find me."

Jakerou's face suddenly became changed, becoming decayed, flesh clinging to bare bone. Instinct told Naruto turned to run from the man, if he even was a man, but his legs wouldn't move.

Instead, he stared into Jakerou's haunting eye sockets.

"That's right. You're staying here forever, Naruto. Forever..."

Author's Note: Read and review, but go easy on me because this is my first horror. Constructive criticism welcome and needed!


	2. An Internal Struggle

Author's Note: I have a double chapter for you today.

Random Person: She does double chapters?

Author: What? I can do double chapters!

Random Person: Where have you been all this time, anyway?

"Skips to show author playing Kingdom Hearts on PS2, Pokemon on DS, Mario Kart on Wii, making AMVs and reading fanfiction on FFNet"

Author: None of your business! Now onto the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do, however, own this plot.

"Mom will get mad when she sees you like that." Naruto informed his brother. "What did you do, play in a mud pit?"

Makoto glared at him. "It was your idea, Naruto."

"You didn't have to. It was just a dare."

"It was Extreme Truth Or Dare and you know it!"

"Mom's going to get mad at both of you when she finds out you've been playing that again."

Makoto and Naruto stopped dead.

"Suzuki, don't tell!" Naruto begged. "We won't do it again!"

Suzuki look her older brother over, then smiled innocently.

"Why would I tell, Naruto? It's not like you failed a test at school."

_"I really wanted to pass this time..."_

It was low and Suzuki knew it. History wasn't Naruto's best subject and he had failed a test about the Nine Tailed Fox.

_"You are the Nine Tailed Fox!"_

Naruto stared at her. How did she know about that?

"Hey, that demon fox attacked the Leaf Village and we don't live there. Why should I have to learn about it?"

Makoto took this chance to get away.

"Makoto, you helped him bury his test, didn't you? Wait until Mom hears about that!"

Naruto and Makoto sported twin looks of horror.

"Mom, Naruto and Makoto were playing Extreme Truth Or Dare again!"

"Run for it!" Naruto yelled.

Makoto and his brother ran to avoid their mother's wrath. Naruto soon left Makoto in the dust as they ran for the forest near his house. He stopped, panting for breath.

"Why did she do that? What do you think, Makoto? Makoto?"

BOOM!

Makoto was nowhere to be found and it was raining.

"Guess he went home."

Naruto started on his way home.

The Kyuubi opened it's eyes.

The Kyuubi watched as it's host returned to the prison house. Why was he doing that? Why hasn't there been any sign of eating or sleeping since he first entered it? It was time to have a talk with the host...

Naruto came tumbling in to the area.

**"Brat."**

No answer.

**"I know you can hear me, Brat."**

Naruto looked into the Kyuubi's eyes.

"I'm not a brat! I'm Naruto!"

**"Just Naruto? What happened to those big speeches about how you, Uzumaki Naruto, were going to be the best Hokage ever?**

"What are you talking about? My name's not Uzumaki Naruto! It's just Naruto! I don't even live in the Leaf Village!"

**"You aren't acting right, Brat. You haven't eaten or slept since you entered that house. Do you want to die?"**

"I-" It hit Naruto like a truck. He couldn't remember eating or sleeping. Ever. Everything seemed like one long day. Just him, Makoto, Suzuki and their parents.

But, what did their parents look like? What are their names?

Naruto couldn't remember. But, he had to know. They were his parents! How could he not know? They had to call each other something. He knew what his parents expected of him, but why couldn't he remember their names or even their faces?

**"They're not your parents, Brat. Your parents are dead. You don't even know them."**

Could the fox be right? No, it couldn't be. Could it?

**"Go home to the Leaf Village."**

But, he didn't live in the Leaf Village. He lived here. What had given the fox that idea? That's right, the fox was wrong. He had always lived in this house by the forest.

**"Get out of that devil house!"**

"You're wrong! This is my home and you can't make me leave!"

The Kyuubi suddenly felt oppressed. Naruto stared at him with dead eyes, the same eyes everyone in that house seemed to have. The air was suffocating. Naruto left, but something else arrived. Yellow eyes mocked the fox, whispering the same words over and over.

"Mine, mine, mine..."

The fox had to do something. It knew it could break Naruto out of the illusion the house had over him.

"Mine, mine, mine..."

And it did. The illusion shattered with ease and Naruto looked around himself, confused at what was happening.

"Mine, mine, mine..."

The thing's yellow eyes bore into the fox, watching it, breaking it. The fox fought back. Naruto was it's host. Not this thing's. The yellow eyes widened, stealing strength from the fox.

"Mine, mine, mine..."

The fox was losing and it knew it. The suffocating air around it increased to a feverish level, then vanished. There was no air and the fox was suffocating on the nothingness.

"Mine."

And this time, the fox was not there to say otherwise.

Author's Note: Wow. This one's even shorter then usual. I can't figure out how Naruto would interact in a family situation such as this. The next chapter will be longer. R&R!


	3. False Escape

Author's Note: Hey look, this update didn't take a year to do! "Crickets chirp" All right, all right, it still took a long time.

Please pray for/help our friends in Japan according to your beliefs. We're all human here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Naruto was screaming internally. He had to leave. It told him to. Granted, he didn't know It's name or even what It was, but something told him to trust It.

Naruto ran to the front door only to find it locked from the outside. He tried the back door, but that was locked, too. Desperate, he tried to open a window and jump out when he saw the eyes.

Yellow eyes, staring at him.

The window suddenly bolted itself with a loud clang, startling Naruto. Somehow, he knew the window wouldn't open now.

The yellow eyes still watched.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Naruto asked.

Crash!

Something fell, but Naruto couldn't see it. The yellow eyes gained a cruel gleam.

A sudden gust of wind threw Naruto into a part of the house he's never seen. Looking around, he realized he was in the basement. Off-white walls surrounded him. _There were no stairs._

Naruto backed up against the wall. The wall was uneven for some reason. He turned around to look. And screamed.

Bones lay piled up to the ceiling. Every kind of bone. Except... There were no skulls. Something grabbed Naruto and threw him into the bone pile.

The bones buried him, trying to force him to the bottom of the pile. There were hundreds of yellow eyes waiting for him at the bottom. Naruto tried to get away, tried to stop himself from being buried alive, needed to get out, couldn't breathe, had to _leave..._

And then the eyes vanished. The bones were gone. Naruto could see the wooden stairs leading to the first floor.

He heard a knocking sound. Someone was knocking on the door? It had to be Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei! He ran to the front door, opened it _(__Strange, it was locked before)_ and saw... Sasuke?

Sasuke knocked on the door. Nobody answered. Well, of course not, nobody lives here.

"You see? I told you this place isn't haunted." He told Hinata.

Sasuke couldn't believe he would have to marry this girl. Their father's decided that they would marry when Hinata was disowned. It had been Itachi's idea to spend time with his future wife. Sometimes, Sasuke envied his brother for being born first.

"Come on, Hinata, let's go home."

* * *

"Sasuke! What are you doing here?" He asked.

"You see? I told you this place isn't haunted." Sasuke called to someone over his shoulder.

"Sasuke, what are you- Hinata?" What was Hinata doing here? Why was she with Sasuke?

"Come one, Hinata, let's go home."

"Sasuke, wait-" Naruto stopped mid-sentence when he saw Sasuke kiss Hinata. Sasuke had never shown any interest in her before. Why were they acting like this was normal?

**"...My fault..."**

Naruto stepped back when he heard It speak.

"Hey, what's going on? Where are you?"

**"You want...bring him home. The Uchiha clan...happened. This place...history. I...village...you...never-"**

"I can't hear you. What's happening? I never what?" Naruto asked. But, It never answered.

Naruto realized that the door was still open. He could still leave.

Naruto ran towards the village. The gate was open. Just a few more steps and he'd be home!

_I made it. I'm home._

Naruto noticed a pink haired girl looking around.

"Sakura-chan!"

He began to run towards her. Suddenly, Ino walked right in front of him. He couldn't stop! Naruto closed his eyes and waited to bump into her be pounded for it. It never happened. He turned around. Ino continued towards him, walking right through him!

"What's going on?"

Nobody heard him.

Naruto recalled It's words and realized what It had been trying to tell him.

_You don't exist._

And with that realization, the village changed. The streets cleared out. The stores gained broken windows and boarded up walls. Then everything disappeared.

Naruto stood in front of an old boarded up house as a thunderstorm raged.

Naruto wanted to cry. He was right back where he started. He was still stuck inside this house. It told him to leave. But, how could he leave if this demon house wouldn't let him?

Wait. If it was really the house that was doing this, then what were the yellow eyes? Why would the yellow eyes appear inside the house if the house was the one preventing him from leaving?

He had to talk to It. It wanted him to leave the house. Maybe It knew how to do that. But, how would he talk to It? It only seemed to talk when It wanted to. Maybe he should just talk. It might answer.

"Hey. Where are you? I need your help."

No answer.

"Do you know how to leave this place? Can you make me exist again?"

Still nothing.

"Listen, I don't know what to do. Please help me!"

Silence.

Naruto heard a giggle.

"You can never leave here." Suzuki told him. "You can't leave if you don't exist."

"Suzuki." Naruto acknowledged.

"Don't worry, Naruto, nobody misses you. There's no one to miss." Suzuki expression flickered. For a second, she almost looked sad.

"I sold my family to Master after my brother was taken. I started forgetting I had a brother. But, I didn't want to forget. I couldn't let my little brother be all alone for eternity. So, I sold my family. Now none of us exist."

Suzuki didn't seem proud of what she's done.

"You know, Naruto, Master's policy is to only take one person for each family. The rest of the family can only join if someone sells them out."

Naruto turned away.

"I can't believe you're okay with that. What about everybody else you knew? Don't you miss them?"

"Sometimes. It's been such a long time now and everybody I know is dead now. I'm dead, too, but I don't exist, so I can't leave."

"Suzuki, where is this Master? I want to talk to him. I want to make him make me exist again!"

"Master is always around. If you want to talk to him, all you have to do is tell him. But, if you want to exist again, you have to give him someone else. Someone you know that hasn't ever been here."

"Is that how I got here? Did someone trade my existence for theirs?"

"That's how everyone gets here. Even me."

"Who was it? Who gave me up?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Suzuki looked at him with an expression of pity. Naruto met her eyes.

"Yes."

Author's Note: I'm stopping the chapter here. That's right, you aren't going to find out who gave up Naruto's existence until the next chapter. Evil, huh? R&R!


	4. Deal With The Devil

Author's Note: We're reaching the end of the story. I don't want to milk it too much and I'm running out of ideas. The next chapter will probably be the last one. And once again, please give me constructive criticism. I thrive on it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Naruto tore up yet another picture. He couldn't believe it.

_How could he do this to me?_

Every picture that had previously brought happiness now brought rage and despair.

_Why did he do it? Why?  
_

Naruto stabbed that man's image on the last picture before tearing it up.

_I thought he cared.  
_

A fleeting thought told him that maybe, just maybe, he had cared. A thought that was crushed when Naruto saw the man's face in the picture.

_He never cared._

Makoto watched Naruto tear up picture after picture and smiled.

* * *

It watched through Makoto's eyes. Everything was going according to plan.

The Kyuubi was too weak to help it's host. Naruto was too angry to suspect anything.

Soon the bargain would be made and the death would occur. The same death that _he_ never got.

* * *

"I want to make a deal. My existence for _his."_

There was no going back now. It may be a deal with the devil, but it was only way out.

"..."

"Did you hear me...?"

"You can't exchange your existence for _his_. _He_ has already been here. Offer someone else."

"I can't think of anyone else."

"..."

"I'll come back later."

* * *

Naruto paced back and forth in the living room.

_Who should I give up? Not Sasuke or Sakura-chan. Not Kakashi-sensei. Not any of my classmates. Not Iruka-sensei. Who should it be?_

"Maybe you should give up somebody you don't know."

Naruto jumped and prepared to attack before remembering that nothing could hurt him now.

Suzuki stood there with a friendly smile on her face.

"If you give up someone you don't know, they can't come back to haunt you." She said it like this happened everyday. Then again for all he knew, she did.

"That's a good idea. Thank you."

_A good idea? What am I saying? Am I that desperate? ...Yes. I want to live again._

* * *

It watched Naruto pace. Soon, the bargain would be complete. Soon...

"Hey, I want to give up somebody I don't know."

"...I'll give you back your existence for someone _you don't know._"

"Will I get to leave?"

"Of course. _You_ will get to leave."

"That's it? No catch?"

"No catch. You can leave."

* * *

Naruto walked out of the house. It didn't beckon to him anymore. He started running back to the woods, back to the village.

He still couldn't believe that Old Man Hokage would give him up. It has been so hard to believe. As if it had never happened...

Naruto shook his head. He was out. He was free. Nothing was standing between him and his home.

He ran towards the gates of Konoha.

"I'm back!" Naruto shouted joyfully.

"Naruto? You weren't supposed to return until next week. Where are Sakura and Kakashi?" The guard asked.

"We got separated. Are they okay?"

"I assume so. Just go report to Tsunade-sama, since you're here."

"Okay!"

Naruto turned and ran towards Tsunade's office. Halfway there, he stopped to look around.

_Naruto... What a foolish child. Did he really think he could just leave?  
_

He continued towards Tsunade's office, yellow eyes dancing with amusement. The bargain was complete. One death per family. One death that led to the death of an entire family.

_He didn't even know himself._

Author's Note: The next chapter will be the last one. Constructive criticism wanted!


	5. Just Like Always

Author's Note: I wanted to post the last chapter on the anniversary of the day I started it, but then I decided that posting it on 11/11/11 would be way cooler. So yeah, this is the last chapter. It's been a long three years since I started. Enjoy and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Fakes. All of them. Suzuki, Makoto, Emiko, Jakerou, all fake. Perhaps they had been real at some point, but not anymore.

When Emiko and Jakerou had bought the house, they had thought nothing of the low price, believing it to be good fortune. They should have known better.

The house was the center of a deadly scam. The house was marketed towards families with more than one child. The seller would keep an extra key after selling the house and after new families moved in, he would kidnap one child and demand ransom. Once the child's parents payed, the seller would hire mercenaries to kill the family and the child and dispose of the bodies.

When the seller kidnapped Makoto, everything was normal. His parents payed, he killed the boy and mercenaries killed the parents and little girl.

Two days later, the seller vanished. The mercenaries vanished too, but nobody noticed until they were needed. Months passed and they were presumed dead. The house was torn down. Nobody ever found out about the scam.

It didn't take long for people to declare the clearing where the house used to be cursed. Grass refused to grow, birds never flew by and the place had an evil feel to it.

When a group of teenagers went into the clearing on a dare, they claimed to see a little boy playing with who they thought was his sister. Then, both boy and girl turned to look at them with frightening yellow eyes. Several people claimed to have seem a woman gardening before turning to stare with hate-filled yellow eyes. One old man even claimed that he had seen the house itself and heard it call to him.

Years passed and the people moved on. The clearing lay forgotten to the new generation as it was surrounded by trees and there was no easy way to get to it.

Until Uzumaki Naruto came along.

The house called for him and he responded without questioning it. It had been pouring rain and Naruto had not thought about the fact that a house appeared in the middle of nowhere. His fate was sealed the moment he entered.

The creature of the house noticed the Kyuubi and recognized that it would need to be suppressed. To gain access to the Kyuubi, it would first need access to Naruto.

The first attempt to possess Naruto ended in failure after the skeleton was found in the closet. Was it Emiko's skeleton? Who knew? It was a woman's skeleton and that's all that was necessary to give Naruto the false memory. Although Naruto broke free, the creature got what was necessary.

Intercepting Naruto in the hallway was ridiculously easy. Showing him images of the still living Suzuki and Jakerou and then changing them to an undead state was all it took to frighten him into an illusion.

The creature had confronted the Kyuubi then, but the Kyuubi refused to talk. Instead, the Kyuubi summoned Naruto and broke him out of the illusion. In the end, the creature spoke to the Kyuubi and defeated it by simply increasing the chakra flow until the fox suffocated in the heat of its own power.

What happened afterwords was nothing more than illusions and lies. The creature had taken the fox's place and spoken to Naruto as the fox.

Suzuki became the angel and offered a way out, lying about everything up to and including that the Third Hokage had betrayed him.

Naruto tried to get revenge for his perceived betrayal and failed.\

Suzuki, ever the angel, offered another way and Naruto reluctantly agreed.

Naruto offered up somebody he didn't know in exchange for his freedom.

And sealed his own fate.

The truth is, there was never a Suzuki. Or a Makoto, Emiko or Jakerou. In fact, there was never a house. There was never a seller. There were never any mercenaries. There was never a scam.

There was no rain, no need for shelter, no mission. There was never a clearing.

And there was never a monster.

Tsunade takes Naruto's report, finding nothing strange about his yellow eyes.

In a clearing somewhere, a blond boy lures a dark haired woman to a boarded up house.

Just like always.

Author's Note: And it is DONE! The ending feels a little rushed, but I needed to clear up a few plot holes. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!


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